Strike with relieved tab



April 25, 1967 F. J. RUSSELL- 3,316,007

STRIKE WITH RELIBVED TAB Filed March 1, 1965 [liven/or, Frec/ J. Russell Baehler Aran/ dfforncys United States Patent 3,316,007 STRIKE WITH RELIEVED TAB Fred J. Russell, 8635 Otis St., South Gate, Calif. 90280 Filed Mar. 1, 1965, Ser. No. 435,935 1 Claim. (Cl. 292341.12)

The invention is one concerning a strike plate such as is used on a door and against which the latch bolt strikes as the door is closed and which thereafter is engaged by the latch bolt to hold the door in closed position.

Although a good carpenter does not experience any appreciable difficulty in mounting a strike plate on a door frame so that the latch bolt engages it satisfactorily with a relatively snug fit, labor costs are so high in the present building trade that workmen sometimes feel they cannot afford the additional time needed for precision work. Consequently, when a strike plate is mounted hurriedly, trouble may develop in aligning the keeper edge of the strike plate properly with respect to the latch bolt. Clearance may be too great, which means the door will rattle. Insuificient clearance will prevent the bolt from entering the hole in the strike plate. Sometimes, even though a door may be mounted properly, it will warp after installation and disturb the proper engagement of the latch bolt with the strike plate. Slight sagging of some part of the building structure may produce a comparable difficulty.

Various expedients have been resorted to heretofore in order to provide an adjustable strike plate. Although some of these have met with a degree of commercial acceptance, most of them have been built in two separate pieces requiring adjustment one with respect to the other after installation. Adjustable strikes of this kind are unnessarily costly and also take extra time to adjust after they have been installed. Some of the more simple types of adjustable strikes have been nonconventional in their appearance and for this reason have lacked trade acceptance.

It is, therefore, among the objects of the invention to provide a new and improved adjustable strike plate which is inexpensive in its construction, neat in appearance, and which can be installed and adjusted with exceptional ease.

Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved adjustable strike plate whic consists of but a single piece, presenting a substantially conventional eX- terior appearance and which is capable of being adjusted with respect to the latch bolt with some simple tool such as a screw driver or other appropriate pry.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved one piece adjustable strike plate so constructed that elements which make the strike plate adjustable also contribute to the ease and neatness with which it is formed.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter set forth, pointed out in the appended claim and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a front perspective view of a fragment of door frame, showing one form of strike plate mounted thereon.

FIGURE 2 is a longitudinal sectional view on the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a front perspective view of a fragment of a door frame, showing another form of the strike plate mounted thereon.

FIGURE 4 is a longitudinal sectional view on the line 4-4 of FIGURE 3.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG- URES 1 and 2, a door frame 10 is provided with a customary jamb strip 11 against which a door (not shown) stops when the door is closed. In the door frame 10 is a hole 12 for a latch bolt (not shown) which may be made by any conventional means, provided only that it is large enough to receive the latch bolt (not shown). A strike plate indicated generally by the reference character 13 may be constructed, as shown, of a single piece of sheet metal of appropriate thickness.

The strike plate 13 consists essentially of a relatively fiat portion 14 having, in the embodiment chosen, a rectangular opening 15 for a latch bolt, centrally located, one edge of which may be termed the relief cut edge 16. Adjacent the relief cut edge 16 is a lip 17 provided with a sloping portion 18 and terminating in an edge which may be designated a strike lip edge 19.

Holes 20 accommodate screws 21 which hold the strike plate 13 mounted in a recess 22 so that it is flush with a surface 23 of the door frame 10.

A keeper tab 25, which initially was a portion of the sheet metal from which the opening 156 has been punched, has a length, vertically, as viewed in FIGURE 1, shorter than the corresponding length of the opening 15. An edge 26 of the tab 25 is attached to the midportion of the relief cut edge 16 along a line of junction 27. It is significant to note that, at opposite ends of the line of junction 27, are cutout openings 28 and 29 which occupy a considerable portion of the width of the tab 25. These cutout openings 28 and 29 perform a double function. At the area of the bend, namely at the junction 27, as metal of the customary thickness used for strike plate 13 is bent, the metal will tend to flow outwardly at the bend. This produces an appearance which lacks a desired degree of neatness. The amount of flow is less than the depth of the cutout openings 28 and 29. Hence, the cutout openings provide a space into which any excess'metal can flow so that it does not spread beyond the side edges of the tab 25. Also, by providing cutout openings 28 and 29 at the locations shown and described, apertures are provided into which the end of a screw driver may be inserted after the strike plate 13 has been mounted, so that the tab 25 can be bent slightly in order to properly engage the latch bolt with a snug sliding fit. Should it be necessary to bend the tab 25 in the opposite direction, 'appropriate pressure on the face of the tab 25, which is reduced in width by reason of the cutout openings 28 and 29, will bend it further to one side of the hole 12.

In the form of device of FIGURES 3 and 4, a strike plate 30 is provided with a flat portion 31 in which is an opening 32 for a latch bolt. One side of the opening 32 is designated as a relief cut edge 33. A lip 34 has a sloping portion 35 terminating in what may be termed a strike lip edge 36. Holes 37 accommodating screws 38 serve to retain the strike plate 30 in the recess 22 flush with the surface 23.

A keeper tab 39 has an edge 40 joining the relief cut edge 33 along a line of junction 41. In this form of the invention, cutout openings 42 and 43 are located inwardly from respective edges 44 and 45 of the tab 39, leaving respective sections 46 and 47 of the junction 41 intact. An appreciable section of the junction 4ll separates the cutout openings 42 and 43. Nevertheless, the cutout openings 42 and 43 are made long enough so that there is considerable reduction in the amount of metal along the junction 41. Moreover, by making the cutout openbeen shown and described, they are big enough to permit insertion of the end of a screw driver or even a heavy nail or other pry in order to bend the tab 39 slightly to a proper position of adjustment with respect to the latch bolt (not shown).

By making a strike plate in the form here disclosed, a smooth, neat appearance is preserved. Since the greater portion of the cutout openings lies within the opening 32 of the strike plate 30, no unsightly openings nor unconventional appearance remains in view. The tab 39 constructed as described can be easily formed with 'a minimum of effort and can be readily adjusted in either direction after it has been mounted in the door frame.

While the invention has herein been shown and described in what is conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is recognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the invention, which is not to be limited to the details disclosed herein but is to be accorded the full scope of the claims so as to embrace any and all equivalent devices.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new in support of Letters Patent is:

An adjustable strike plate for a door lock comprising a sheet metal member adapted to be mounted over a latch bolt hole in a door frame, said member comprising a relatively fiat portion having a latch bolt opening therein, a lip adjacent the keeper edge and extending outwardly therefrom presenting a sloping face for engagement by a latch bolt, a keeper tab comprising a part of said relatively flat portion which initially occupied at least a part of the area of the latch bolt opening, said keeper tab hav- 7 ing one edge thereof forming a junction with said flat portion, said keeper tab having an inwardly bent position for insertion into said latch bolt hole, opposite side edges of said keeper tab at said junction, each having a cutout opening greater in depth than the outward flow of metal at the junction, whereby to reduce metal strength at the junction, to avoid spread of metal beyond said opposite side edges, and to provide access for an adjusting tool to change the position of both sides of said keeper tab.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,611,199 9/1952 Stelzer 292-307 X 3,007,732 11/1961 Schlage 292341.12

FOREIGN PATENTS 419,818 11/1934 Great Britain. 164,993 10/ 1958 Sweden.

MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Primary Examiner.

RICHARD E. MOORE, Examiner. 

